| Airbornelawyer |
11-28-2005 10:20 |
From the RFE/RL Newsline:
Transcaucasus and Central Asia- GEORGIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY BRANDS SOUTH OSSETIAN LEADERS 'CRIMINALS'
The Georgian Interior Ministry posted on 26 November on its website materials accusing the top leadership of the breakaway Republic of South Ossetia of engaging in smuggling, arms-trafficking, and abductions, Civil Georgia reported the following day. Those materials further accused the Russian peacekeepers deployed in the South Ossetian conflict zone of providing weapons to armed Ossetian groups. Also on 26 November. Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili named in an interview with the independent television station Rustavi-2 five men he claimed were responsible for the abduction in South Ossetia three months ago of an 11-year-old Georgian boy, Caucasus Press reported. Merabishvili said the boy was taken to Tskhinvali in a vehicle belonging to the South Ossetian Defense Ministry. He said the child was recently released by the same people who originally abducted him. Merabishvili further challenged South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity to return to their families four Georgian men abducted in the conflict zone in early June, and who are presumed to have been killed.
- GEORGIA, RUSSIA DISCUSS SOUTH OSSETIA CONFLICT
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed during talks in Moscow that a meeting between Noghaideli and South Ossetian President Kokoity would contribute to alleviating tensions and pave the way for a solution of the South Ossetian conflict, Noghaideli told journalists in Moscow on 25 November, RIA-Novosti reported. Noghaideli added that he explained to Lavrov the details of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's most recent three-stage draft plan for resolving the conflict, the first stage of which entails demilitarization of the conflict zone. Noghaideli called for holding a meeting of the Joint Control Commission that monitors the situation in the conflict zone to discuss that demilitarization. In Tskhinvali, Yurii Dzitsoity, deputy speaker of the South Ossetian parliament, implicitly rejected the call for a meeting between Noghaideli and Kokoity, arguing that a meeting of the presidents of Russia, Georgia, and North and South Ossetia could best overcome the "stagnation" in the conflict resolution process, Caucasus Press reported on 26 November. Russian diplomat Valerii Kenyaikin proposed at a JCC session in Ljubljana 10 days ago convening such a meeting of the four presidents.
- AUTHORITIES ACCUSE GEORGIAN GUERILLAS OF TARGETING ABKHAZ
In a statement released on 28 November, the Interior Ministry of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia blamed Georgian guerrillas for having laid the radio-controlled mine that blew up a car in which three Abkhaz, including a customs official, were driving between the villages of Tagiloni and Chuburkhindji in Abkhazia's southernmost Gali District, apsny.ru and rustavi2.com reported. The White Legion guerrilla formation, which voluntarily disbanded two years ago, announced earlier this month plans to resume its activities.
- KAZAKH SECURITY BODY WARNS OF POSSIBLE 'CONFLICT' BY 'MARGINAL YOUTH'
The National Security Committee issued a statement on 25 November warning of the threat of a "conflict situation" by "marginal" youth groups, according to Interfax. The statement added that the security forces were alarmed by reports of "provocative" youth groups organizing to disrupt the 4 December presidential election. The warning follows a recent statement by Interior Minister Baurzhan Mukhamedzhanov alleging that "radical forces" are planning to "stage mass disturbances" during the election period.
- NEW TURKISH-KYRGYZ MILITARY AGREEMENT SIGNED
Kyrgyz Deputy Defense Minister Major General Boris Yugai signed a new agreement on military cooperation on 25 November with a visiting Turkish military delegation in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Television reported. The new agreement calls for a new package of Turkish military assistance worth over $800,000, as part of a broader bilateral protocol reached in October. The aid includes equipment and supplies for the Kyrgyz armed forces and facilities for Kyrgyz border-guard units. In 2002, Turkey presented Kyrgyzstan with weaponry worth $1.1 million.
Southwestern Asia And The Middle East- SWEDISH SOLIDER KILLED IN NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN
A Swedish soldier serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) died on 26 November from wounds received on 25 November when the vehicle he was traveling in was caught in an explosion in Mazar-e Sharif, an ISAF press release indicated on 26 November. The explosion injured three other Swedish soldiers as well.
- POTENTIAL BOMBERS ARRESTED IN KABUL
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zaher Azimi said in Kabul on 27 November that seven men were arrested in Kabul with explosive-laden vehicles, Pajhwak Afghan News reported. Azimi did not discuss the possible targets of the would-be bombers. A unidentified senior Afghan official said on 27 November that the men, whom he described as would-be suicide bombers, were all Afghans. In the past, Afghan officials have tried to portray suicide bombers as foreigners.
- IRAQI BORDER GUARDS STOP 11 CARLOADS OF INFILITRATORS
Interior Minister Bayan Jabr told reporters on 27 November that border guards stopped 11 cars transporting would-be insurgents into Iraq the day before, Iraqi media reported the same day. Jabr said two other vehicles eluded capture and returned to the country from which they came, which he refused to identify. Jabr said the authorities of that country were notified about the incident. He declined to identify the nationalities of those in custody. Meanwhile, IRNA reported on 26 November that three armed men were arrested upon entering Iran from Iraq on 25 November. The men were reportedly carrying three machine guns and two bombs when they were arrested.
- FOUR WESTERN AID WORKERS KIDNAPPED IN IRAQ
Two Canadians, a Briton, and an American aid worker have been kidnapped in Baghdad, Reuters reported on 27 November. The employer of the aid workers refused to be identified publicly. The news agency reported that the workers were thought to have been abducted in a violent neighborhood of western Baghdad on 26 November; a representative of their humanitarian group said the group has received no word on the condition of the aid workers. The Canadian Foreign Ministry confirmed that two Canadian nationals were missing in Iraq on 27 November. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it is looking into reports that an American was abducted. The British Foreign Office identified the missing Briton as Norman Kember from London. Kember's wife said he worked for a number of aid groups in Iraq, Reuters cited the BBC as reporting.
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